Skyscraper
by DivergentDemigod42
Summary: "I'm shier than half the geek club." In which Jaylynn Parker learns what it's like to be rising from the ground like a skyscraper. Inspired by a somewhat true story and Demi Lovato's "Skyscraper."


**Hey guys!**

**I got this new idea. It's about ... well, I think you're going to find out. It's based off a somewhat true story ... _my_ true story. My parents don't really believe in me. Anyway, enjoy! BTW, if you don't like swearing, then unfortunately this is not the story for you. The main pairing is Leo/OC, but there are some other pairings like Jasper or Percabeth or Frazel or whatever. Jason is at Camp Half-Blood.**

* * *

><p>"Oh, come on!"<p>

"What?"

"You don't think I can do this."

"No, I don't."

"Gee, thanks. I'm feeling the love."

"Don't use that tone with me, young woman!" Mom said, exasperated.

"Hmph." I turned and crossed my arms across my chest, fuming.

"Honestly! You're shier than half the geek club!"

"The geek club?" I shrieked. "What the heck is the geek club?"

"It's a club for ... geeks!" Mom said with a flurry of hand motions.

"Yes, because that _totally_ explains everything."

"Don't you sass me, J-"

"All right, all right. Settle down." My stepdad, Mr. Burns, strolled into the living room, adjusting his navy blue tie. He was nice . . . for the most part. Better than Mom. "What's happening?"

"She-" Mom pointed an accusing finger at me, "thinks that she can go up and sing in front of the entire high school at the talent show tomorrow!"

"Oh, dear." He looked me straight in the eye. "You know you can't do that."

Aaaaaaaand there goes my respect for him.

"Whatever," I mutter, blowing my brown hair out of my face. "I am so done with-"

"You dare-"

"STOP!" Mr. Burns screamed. I looked from him to Mom, glaring, and stalked out of the room, down the hall, up the stairs, and into my room. I slammed the door behind me and collapsed onto my bed, shoving my face into my pillow.

Maybe you'd like to know more about my little problem.

You see, all my life, I've wanted to be a performer. An actress, a dancer, a singer, anything of the sort. I would have hoped that my mom and stepdad would be encouraging, but no! They had to be all like "nope, you suck at that" or "don't even try" or "that's not even possible!"

Talk about the best parents _ever_, right?

If you didn't see the sarcasm, then shame on you.

Oh, and my stepdad? Well, I never knew my real dad. Mom said that he was bright.

Maybe she meant that he was unnaturally perky, or maybe he was really, really shiny. Who knows?

Anyway, he was apparently incredibly talented and good-looking. I like to think that I inherited my performing talents from him, but naturally my mother thinks otherwise.

I think I'm a good singer. My mirror hasn't broken yet, right? And I'm a pretty good actress, too. I mean, I have a lot to hide nowadays. Like the fact that I absolutely despise my mom.

Well, I guess that isn't so hidden. But you get my drift, I'm good at acting and I know it.

When I was five, my mom met Mr. Burns. He was nice for the first few days, but soon began to share my mom's belief that I was socially awkward.

Sure, I'm a little shy, but I'm not afraid to perform.

My high school, Riverbank High, is a pretty nice place . . . unless you're me, in which case it's a complete hellhole.

The teachers are great. The architecture is amazing. The classes definitely get the message across, the amount of homework is downsized to a paper a week, and the food is the definition of "delicious."

But the students are complete dicks.

To me, at least. They hate me. I don't know why. I'm fabulous.

Ending my little conceited session and getting on with the point, majority of the school despises me. I only have two friends.

Well, I _had_ two friends. I'll get to that later.

One of them, my bestie, Vanessa Evangelist, is this incredibly beautiful girl who is somehow nice enough to hang out with me, despite my unpopularity. I'm not just calling her beautiful because I love her; she's freaking gorgeous. Perfectly straight brown hair with natural blonde highlights, striking blue eyes, skin that isn't too pale but isn't too tan. Fair, I suppose.

I'm so jealous.

Then, I have . . . erm, had . . . a boyfriend.

How'd I get a boyfriend?

Don't ask me, because I don't know. It shall remain a mystery to the universe for all eternity.

Anyway, he's pretty freaking gorgeous too. His hair is long and mahogany brown, and his eyes are just ... brown. Sounds so plain, but he makes it so damn BEAUTIFUL.

Unfortunately, he's now my ex ... and he was so nice, too ...

Oh, and in case you were wondering (you probably were) his name is Jack. *Sighs dreamily.* Jack ...

Okay, you're not here to listen to my boy rants. Let's get on with the story.

So, yeah. Those were my only two friends. Let's skip my evening of whining and go to school the next day.

It was, as mentioned before, the day of the talent show.

So, I was just strolling down the halls and BAM! I bumped straight into Jack. I was then mesmerized by his supreme hotness and became a red-faced stuttering mess. Eventually, when I stopped rambling about my apologies, I beamed at him.

He smiled sadly at me.

Yes, sadly. I'm getting to that.

My smile faltered. "What's wrong?"

"Well ..." He took my hand and squeezed it, looking me straight in the eye. "I'm sorry, but we have to break up."

Cliche much?

"W-what?" I stammered.

"I'm so sorry, but dating you ... it's not good for my social status."

"Excuse me?" I demanded, jerking my hand back. "That's all you care about? Your stupid social status?"

"Again, I'm sorry, but this is for my own good."

"Your own good? Do you realize how selfish you sound right now?"

"I need to-"

"You son of a bitch!"

He looked taken aback. "I . . . I mean . . . I can't . . . but . . ."

"Never mind," I spat, crossing my arms across my chest. "You're not worth it. Go play around with your friends to fix your_ social status._"

He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He shook his head, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and walked away.

You know how hard it is to fight off tears when your used-to-be-very-lovable-boyfriend just dumped you?

Yeah, it's pretty hard.

I broke into silent tears as I opened up my locker and got out my textbook and notebook for math. I was slowly shutting the locker as I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Jay?"

I turned, keeping my head down. "Hi, Vanessa."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine."

"No, you're not. Look up."

I brought my head up and found Vanessa staring at me, her beautiful features morphed into a concerned expression.

"What happened?" She asked softly.

"Jack happened," I said quietly. When she raised an eyebrow, I spoke up a bit. "Jack happened. He broke up with me for the sake of his 'social status.'"

Her mouth formed a small "O" before she narrowed her eyes in anger. "I'm going to kill that bas-"

"Vanessa," I said sternly, despite the fact that my voice was shaky. "No. It's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." I drew a shaky breath. "I'm good."

Fast forward to the talent show, because my classes were incredibly boring.

I walked into the bathroom just before the talent show started. I looked at my reflection in the mirror; my normally straight brown hair was now curled. My tanned face was unusually covered in makeup (which was a bit messed up from crying, so I took some time to fix it), and behind my slim black glasses, my brown eyes were just . . . brown. I wore a black shirt under my white cardigan, and my legs were being suffocated by navy blue skinny jeans. I was an inch taller with my black heels.

_You're beautiful._

Pshhhhh.

I sighed and walked out of the bathroom, my heels clicking against the linoleum as a I strolled down the hallway and made my way to the gym. I opened the door as silently as possible; the talent show had already started. Luckily, I was somewhere near the end of the performances. I tip-toed my way to the backstage entrance and went inside. Vanessa was waiting for me, seeing as she had planned the whole thing. She was frantically scribbling something onto a clipboard when she saw me.

"Jay!" She exclaimed in relief. "I thought you weren't going to show up!"

I turned bitter. "What, you think that just because my boyfriend broke up with me that I'd go into depression?" I spat.

Her eyes widened. "No, no, not at all . . . Jay . . ."

I sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just . . . yeah. Anyway, how many more until me?" I grabbed a water bottle and took a swig.

"Erm, you're up next."

"What?" I spat out the water, choking in the process. "I'm next?"

Vanessa smiled sheepishly. "Either you were gone longer than you think or these guys perform way too fast."

"But . . . but . . . I-I don't . . . I can't . . . b-but . . ." I stuttered. "I can't do this! I didn't have any time to prepare or anything, I need to-"

"Jay," Vanessa said gently. "Calm down. You can do this. You're going to be amazing."

"My parents are out there! They're going to laugh at me, a-and they're going to-"

"Jaylynn Elise Parker!" Vanessa yelled. I flinched; nobody ever used my full name, not even my parents. "You're going to amazing, got it? You're going to show those people, especially Jack and your parents, what you can do. Kapeesh?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. I can do this."

"And up next, we have Jaylynn Parker! Everybody give a nice round of applause!"

I looked at Vanessa, who smiled encouragingly. I smiled back weakly and walked out onto the stage, chin held high. The applause stopped as I stood in the middle of the stage, a microphone stand before me. I grabbed the microphone and leaned toward it.

"Hi. My name is Jaylynn Parker, and I'm going to be singing 'Skyscraper' by Demi Lovato." I took a deep breath and opened my mouth, but not before I met my mother's eyes.

I could easily see it in the dull brown that matched mine; disbelief, doubt.

I looked into the crowd, full of students and teachers alike, staring expectantly at me, waiting for me to sing. My eyes momentarily found Jack's, and I wasn't at all surprised to find that he shared my mother's look of disbelief and doubt.

Yet, for the first time, I felt as if my mother was right.

I couldn't do this.

I closed my mouth and opened it again, but no sound came out. I stood there like a fool, opening and closing my mouth repeatedly, and no sound came out.

I was desperate. I turned to Vanessa, whose eyes were wide. She mouthed something to me, but I couldn't tell what it was. I was too distracted by the things running through my mind.

_I can't do this._

_I can't sing._

_I'm a failure._

And finally: _I'm shier than half the geek club._

I started to freak out. My hands became clammy and cold, my foot tapping against the stage. My eyes frantically traveled over the swarm of students, looking for something to help. I snapped my head to the right, fast enough to get whiplash, and I was shocked and annoyed to see that Vanessa wasn't there.

I knew it wasn't possible anymore. There was no chance that I could become a performer.

I had to tell them I couldn't do this. I mean, talking can't be that hard, right?

But I opened my mouth again, and I was devastated to find that again, no sound came out.

I squeezed my eyes shut and took three deep breaths before opening them again. All I had to do was tell them . . .

_I can't do this._

I opened my mouth again, but I didn't even get the chance to talk.

What sounded like an explosion rang off in the distance, and the world went black.

Now, I know what you're going to say. Explosion noises? World went black? Cliche much?

Well, I'm not kidding. The world seriously went black. Like, I legitimately couldn't see anything. I think I passed out.

I'm going to shut up now.

When I woke up, I found myself staring into excited dark brown eyes. I was looking straight into the face of what looked like a Latino Santa's Elf, with unruly dark curls, pointy ears, and a cheerful yet somewhat mature face. He was good-looking in an awkward, sort of indescribable kind of way.

He grinned cheekily; the type of grin that told me I probably shouldn't trust this guy with my wallet, wherever the heck it was. "Finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?"

I raised an eyebrow and sat up, though I was well aware of the blush creeping up my cheeks. The dude must have seen it too; he grinned even wider, if possible.

"Who are you?" I asked rudely, as I brought my hand up to my face; my glasses weren't there. I turned my head to the right. My glasses were sitting there on a table, so I quickly grabbed them and pushed them onto my face, digging them into the bridge of my nose.

"The Super-Sized McShizzle." I raised an eyebrow again, and he sighed.

"Leo Valdez."

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Hmmm . . . nah."

"Fine. My name is-"

"Jaylynn Elise Parker, but you prefer to be called Jay. You're fifteen, but you turn sixteen on November 12. You have a mother, Sara Parker, and a stepfather, Andrew Burns. You were born in Phoenix, Arizona, but moved to Manhattan as a young, six-year-old child. Until now, you attended Riverbank High, where you met your best friend Vanessa Evangelist. You also met your now-ex-boyfriend, Jack Walker. Today, you were supposed to perform Skyscraper by Demi Lovato at your school's annual talent show, but you ended up freaking out. You opened your mouth just as you passed out."

". . . stalker much?"

He laughed. For some reason, his laugh reminded me of rainbows, happiness, and all things good . . .

Jay, getting carried away here.

"I have my ways," he said, smiling at me. I couldn't help but smile back.

"So, where am-"

"You're the daughter of an Olympian god."

Well, that escalated quickly.

"Excuse me?"

Leo smiled sheepishly, blushing adorably. I seriously need to shut up . . .

"Um, that was really straightforward, sorry. I'll take you on a tour of the place, and I'll explain to you what I mean." He held out his hand, and it took me a few seconds for me to process that he wanted me to take hold of it. Blushing madly, I tentatively grabbed his hand in mine, and he smiled at me again.

"Right now, you're in Camp Half-Blood, which is a place where half-god, half-human people come to train."

"Half-god?"

He shrugged. "You get used to it. There are actually two camps for people like us, demigods. There's this one, and then there's Camp Jupiter. There's a difference, actually. Camp Half-Blood is for Greek demigods, and Jupiter is for Romans. I'm absolutely positive that you're Greek though."

"Who's my parent?"

"Well, you're undetermined. You haven't been claimed, but I figure that your godly parent is a dude."

"And your parent?"

"Hephaestus, god of blacksmiths. I hope he's not your parent, because then I'd lose a possible girlfriend." He winked at me.

It was really cheesy, but I blushed anyway.

He took me on an entire tour of the place. The strawberry fields, the Big House, the basketball courts, the cabins, everything. He told me everything I need to know about weapons and monsters.

And never once did he let go of my hand.

* * *

><p>Leo dropped me off at the Hermes cabin, where the undetermined demigods go, after the tour. I met a girl named Elizabeth, or Liz, as she preferred to be called; she was undetermined, too, but she was hoping for Athena or Aphrodite. We became pretty good friends, and we talked about everything that happened in our lives. She said that for someone with my story, I was a pretty approachable person.<p>

She said her life had been pretty easy at first, but she had some siblings (or "motherfucking bastards," as she called them) that were pretty annoying. One day, her dad got all angry and exploded (not literally), so she ran away and met a satyr along the way. The satyr took her to Camp Half-Blood, and she's been here since.

Huh. I didn't find a satyr. Leo didn't really mention one, either.

Liz then broke into a rant about those "motherfucking bastards," her hand playing with her auburn hair. Her blue eyes sparkled with each swear word.

She's a cool kid.

We walked out to dinner with the rest of the cabin, but Liz and I never moved away from each other.

When we sat down, I caught Leo's eye at the Hephaestus table. He smiled warmly at me, and I smiled back.

"Who's that?" Liz said, nudging me with her shoulder. "Is that your boyfriend?"

My eyes widened, and my cheeks burned. "Um, no. He was just the first person I met."

"He's cute."

I felt a twinge of . . . what, jealousy? I bit back a snarky retort. "Yeah. He is."

Liz raised an eyebrow, but didn't mention Leo again. We talked about . . . well, everything, really. I also talked with some other people, but the ones that stood out most were the Stoll brothers, Connor and Travis.

Now, I was pretty hesitant with Leo, but I thought that maybe I _really_ shouldn't trust these guys with any of my possessions.

At the end of dinner, what I thought was a perfectly normal man came up to the front. Took me a while to realize that his bottom half was a fucking horse.

"Hello, campers!" He said with a wide smile. "Good evening. Today, a few of us witnessed the arrival of a new demigod. Jaylynn Parker, will you please stand?"

Liz and Leo turned towards me expectantly. Slowly, I stood up.

"I expect that, if needed, you will all help Jaylynn. You may sit now, Miss Parker."

I sat.

Horse Butt kept talking about how the strawberries weren't growing or something like that, and I only really noticed one thing he said.

". . . tonight, we have Capture the Flag."

My ears perked up at that. I was never really the best at sports, but whenever we did Capture the Flag at school I actually did pretty well. I considered myself pretty good at defense; I was fast and agile. I could easily catch up to people and tag them, thus placing them in jail.

Apparently, camp had a different idea.

Hermes, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena, Nike, and Hecate were on one team. I smiled at Leo, who grinned back; we were on the same team.

We were against Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Dionysus, Ares, Hades, Iris, Hypnos, Nemesis, Hebe, and Tyche were on the other. They got more cabins, but Liz, who had been here for way longer than me, said that we got the bigger cabins.

She said that the bad part was that they got Ares, which was full of a bunch of unnaturally large and scary people. Ares was the god of war, and his children seemed like they could be minor gods too.

She also said that we had a pretty good chance of winning, though. We got Athena, the ultimate battle strategists, and the fact that Nike was the goddess of victory helped matters. The Hunters of Artemis weren't at camp, though.

Liz told me the "basic" rules of the game. No maiming and no killing.

Peachy.

It took me about five minutes to even get the hunk of metal they called armor on. Liz helped me pick out a weapon. It was a small, celestial bronze dagger that didn't seem like the perfect match, but it worked.

Liz was able to walk normally, but I barely managed to stagger over to where Leo was.

I was pretty disappointed to see him running around with another girl on his back, grinning like a maniac. The girl, who was _incredibly_ pretty, even more so than Vanessa, was laughing and smiling, clinging to his neck. She had tanned skin, choppy brown hair, and color-changing eyes. She looked a bit like me, but, you know, way prettier.

The only thing going through my mind was:

_Back off, bitch, he's mine_.

Except, I was pretty positive that they were dating.

She jumped off, ruffled his hair, and ran away.

Leo noticed me and smiled. "Hey, Jay."

"Hi, Leo!" I said a little too perkily. I tried to walk over to him, but being the dope I am, I ended up tripping on a twig and falling into him. He staggered back a bit, but caught me.

"Sorry," I muttered, my face burning.

"It's okay." He had an amused glint in his eyes.

"So . . . who's the girl?"

"What girl? Piper?"

"Piper, huh? That's her name . . . that's a pretty name. She's a pretty girl."

"What-"

"Is she your girlfriend?" I blurted out. My eyes widened, and I clamped my hands over my mouth.

Leo raised his eyebrows, but the corners of his lips turned upward and he started to laugh.

_Damn it, why does he have to be so cute?!_

"Piper isn't my girlfriend! She's pretty much the annoying sister I never had. Plus, she has a boyfriend. If I went for her, I'd be disintegrated into a pile of dust."

"Oh," I said quietly, letting out an audible sigh of relief.

"Wait." Leo held up a hand, and the amused glint returned. He mock-gasped. "Jaylynn Parker, are you _jealous_? I just met you, and you're already jealous."

"What?" I said shrilly, flipping my hair nonchalantly. "No, of course I'm not jealous! What makes you think that?"

". . . do you see yourself right now?"

I scrunched my eyebrows together, clenched my fists, and let out a high-pitched "hmph."

"You're cute."

I blushed. "Um . . . uh . . . erm . . . I . . ."

He smiled and grabbed my hand. "Come on, the game starts in a bit. You need to meet Annabeth. She's a daughter of Athena."

Leo pulled me over to a group of demigods. All of them had blonde hair and stormy gray eyes. The one talking, a girl, was tall and pretty, with a California tan and an athletic build.

"Annabeth!" Leo said.

The girl, Annabeth, turned. "What, Leo?" She demanded. She seemed a bit aggravated.

"Meet Jay!" Leo said cheerfully.

Annabeth looked at me. She smiled warmly at me, though I could see irritation in her eyes. "Hi, Jay. Welcome to camp. Say . . . do you think you could take position at the creek?"

I blinked. "Uh . . . maybe, why?"

"My boyfriend is a son of Poseidon. I'm going to assume that he'll use the creek, otherwise known as the borderline, to his advantage; as a son of Poseidon, he can naturally control water. I want you to see if you can stop him."

"Why me?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Everybody else is too scared to do it."

"So you expect me to be able to do it?"

"Please?" She pleaded. I looked into those gray eyes. They told me that if I said no, she would probably strangle me to death.

I sighed. "Fine. I'll try."

"Whoa, whoa, wait." Leo stepped in front of me. "Percy is really powerful. Jay just got here. Do you really think this is a good idea?"

"I don't know what else to do, Leo. This is the same plan as usual . . . my brain isn't functioning as well as I'd hope. All my thoughts are mixed up. I was up pretty late last night, weaving something for Percy . . ."

"Well, I don't think this is a good idea."

Annabeth opened her mouth, but I cut in. "Leo, it's fine. I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

I smiled weakly. "Yeah. So . . . where's this creek?"

Annabeth had one of her half-siblings (turns out all those blonde kids were children of Athena, like her) lead me over to the creek. I hid behind a bush and waited until Horse Butt officially started the game.

I heard footsteps and immediately panicked.

I mean, what did you expect me to do? Sit there in silence like a complete ninja and pretend I don't exist? I'm not that advanced.

I jumped and fell backward, letting out an unladylike grunt. I cursed a few times as I tried to regain my balance.

"What was that?" A male voice.

My eyes widened, and my back stiffened. Of course they'd heard me. Only the deaf wouldn't have heard me yell out a variety of profanities.

"I don't know."

"You idiot, go check!" A husky feminine voice growled.

"Sheesh, calm down. Stop swinging that spear, Clarisse, you're going to poke somebody's eye out."

"Thanks for the idea, Jackson. Come here for a sec?"

"Uh, no thanks."

"Can you guys just stop arguing?" The first voice rang out. "We're not going to get anywhere."

"Fine." The feminine voice grunted. "You're lucky I can stand you, Grace."

"What is it with you and last names?"

"Percy, just check the bush already!"

"Fine, fine." Footsteps grew louder. Somebody was walking towards me.

I popped out of the bush without thinking. I saw who was walking toward me; a tall, good-looking boy with messy jet-black hair and the most gorgeous sea green eyes. Behind him, a buff-looking girl with stringy brown hair and brown eyes, and a guy taller than the rest of them with a handsome face, blonde hair, and striking blue eyes.

The first boy looked at me in surprise. "Aren't you the new kid?"

"Um, yeah." I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.

". . . Annabeth put you here?"

I raised my eyebrows. "How did you know?"

"She tends to put the newbies over here while she builds an army closer to her flag. She really needs some new plans."

"You're her boyfriend, aren't you? Percy?"

"Yep."

"So . . ."

"Move it, Jackson!" The girl (I assumed she was Clarisse, because the blonde guy didn't really look like a Clarisse) pushed Percy aside. "Who are you, punk?"

"Name's Jay."

She narrowed her eyes. "Keeping your calm, huh? Oh, you won't be calm when I'm done with you-"

"Clarisse," Percy said firmly. She looked at him and reluctantly stepped back. Percy turned to me. "Annabeth wanted you to stop me, right?"

"Well, she wanted me to try."

"Ah." Percy nodded. "I'm really sorry, Jay, but I have to do this."

"Do what-"

"Jason, now!" Percy yelled.

The boy in the back, apparently named Jason (I told you he wasn't Clarisse), extended his arms and pulled them together, making a sound like a thunder.

Lightning hit the ground right in front of me. And behind me. And next to me. Pretty much everywhere.

Gee, I wonder who his parent is.

I was momentarily blinded. When my vision came back, I saw a really scary-looking Clarisse barreling toward me. I didn't even have time to sidestep.

She rammed into me and pushed me into a tree. My head hit the trunk before snapping forward.

My ears were ringing. I felt dizzy. I could barely see Clarisse step back and drive her spear into my shoulder.

No maiming? _HELLO_?!

I felt a jolt of electricity travel through me as I cried out. She made one more move, and in a desperate attempt, I swung my arm in front of me.

I don't even know what happened. I saw light. Clarisse's spear rammed into an invisible boundary, and she staggered backward. She looked at me with wide eyes before the world went black again.

* * *

><p>I woke up in the same room I first found myself in. And, just like the first time, Leo was leaning over me, except worry was clearly visible in both his eyes and expression.<p>

"Jay!" He exclaimed. "Thank the gods! I thought that . . ." He trailed off, gulping.

I smiled weakly, and he helped me sit up. I felt a dizzying pain in my head, and my hand traveled to my head. I was well aware of Leo's arm tightening around my waist.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concern dripping in his voice.

"Yeah. I . . . I think I'm good." I moved my hand around to the front of my face. My glasses were gone.

Leo must have noticed. "Yeah, erm . . . we kind of lost your glasses? But don't worry. You look way better without them."

I blushed. Leo smiled and handed me a cup of what looked like iced apple juice with a green straw. I took it and hesitantly took a sip. It tasted nothing like apple juice; more like the s'mores my aunt used to make when I was younger.

"It's nectar," Leo said. "Drink of the gods. Demigods can drink some for healing purposes, but too much and they burn up."

"That sounds nice." Leo laughed.

"Well, it's never happened before."

"How long have I been out?"

"Well, about three days."

I spit out the nectar, coughing and spluttering. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"Now you know why I was worried."

"Who won Capture the Flag?"

"Nobody, actually. We stopped the game almost immediately after Clarisse almost killed you. Oh, and Will managed to 'fix' your eyesight. It's perfect now."

I blinked. "Wow. He can do that?"

"He's a son of Apollo. Healing is one of his specialties. Speaking of which . . ." Leo pointed behind me. Slowly, I turned and swung my legs over, letting them hang off the bed. Leo moved with me, keeping his arm around me the whole time.

Horse Butt, a blonde guy, and Clarisse were arguing.

". . . photokinesis is _extremely_ rare, though. Are you sure you saw it right?" Blondie was saying.

"Yes, jeez!" Clarisse yelled with an exasperated tone. "I saw it! She created a light shield, a force field, whatever! I saw it, I swear on the Styx!"

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Clarisse," Horse Butt started. "I wouldn't swear on the Styx if-"

"You don't believe me!" Clarisse roared. "I SWEAR ON THE STYX, SHE CREATED A FORCE FIELD! I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE KILLED HER IF IT WASN'T FOR THAT FORCE FIELD!"

"Excuse me?" Horse Butt demanded. "You were going to kill her?"

"Well, I didn't mean to-"

Blondie cleared his throat and pointed at me. Horse Butt and Clarisse turned towards me.

"Ah, Jaylynn, you've awaken," Horse Butt said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm a little dizzy, my head hurts . . ." Leo tightened his grip even more, and I kept my head down to hide my blush, "but I'm fine."

"Mild whiplash," Blondie said. "You should be fine. We gave you as much nectar and ambrosia as you can take."

I nodded.

"So, Jay, Clarisse here claims that you showed signs of photokinesis. Do you know what that is?"

"Um . . . the ability to control light?"

"Correct. What do you think?"

"What?"

"Do _you_ think you possess the rare ability of photokinesis?"

"Erm . . ."

"The game, Jay. Capture the Flag. What happened when Clarisse charged you? What did you do?"

"Well, I just kind of swung my arm in front of me, and there was suddenly this burst of light and stuff and Clarisse fell over or something . . ."

I'm so descriptive.

"Ah." Chiron looked distressed, but didn't say anything. He galloped away. Clarisse stalked after him, and Blondie looked at me.

I probably should have guessed that he was Will earlier.

"You good?" He asked. I nodded again, and he nodded back. He walked away, and I was left with Leo.

I leaned my head on his shoulder, looking out the open door at the sunset. We stayed there for a while, and eventually I fell asleep.

* * *

><p>When I went back to the Hermes cabin, Liz almost knocked me over with a hug. I was fine at that point. My headache was gone.<p>

"Oh my gods, Jay!" Liz screamed. "I thought you were dead! Clarisse hits like a fucking truck!"

She pulled back, and I stared at her. I had never acknowledged how pretty she was.

I laughed. "Yeah, she does."

Liz interrogated me, asking me random questions. The only one I really paid attention to was: "Do you really have photokinesis?"

I sighed. "Honestly, Liz, I don't know." She shut up.

When dinner came, people were shooting me weird looks. I felt pretty uncomfortable, but Liz didn't seem to notice. She began another rambling session.

". . . I swear, if it wasn't for the bell and the fact that Dad didn't want me to be late for school, those fucking devils would have killed me . . ."

At the end of dinner, we all gathered around the bonfire. All tension was gone, and I fit in again.

Until, of course, Horse Butt called me up to the front with Clarisse.

Some kind of understanding passed between Clarisse and Horse Butt. Next thing I knew, Clarisse was charging me again.

Out of panic, I thrust my hand out in front of me.

What happened?

A beam of light flew out of my hand and hit Clarisse straight in the chest. She flew backward, landing about five feet away.

People were looking at me again. I looked at myself, too.

I was fucking _glowing_.

Horse Butt blinked, but regained his serious composure. He cleared his throat.

"All hail Jaylynn Elise Parker, daughter of Apollo."

* * *

><p><strong>YAY! I'M FINALLY DONE!<strong>

**So, I _had_ to write this. It was holding off all of my other stories, so I needed to get it finished. I'm not really sure how often I'll update this ... as you can see, the chapters are pretty long.**

**In case you're wondering, I am imagining Jay as really pretty. I mean, she's not completely modeled after me.**

**So, yeah, I think I should be able to update all my other stories now. Yay! But I'll try to update this as soon as possible.**

**~ DD42**


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